


Thank You, Katherine Obvious

by aintweproudriff



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-10-31 22:19:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10908594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aintweproudriff/pseuds/aintweproudriff
Summary: Katherine thinks she knows things, but that's debatable.Based on that tumblr post about "she told my boyfriend I liked him."





	Thank You, Katherine Obvious

**Author's Note:**

> I kinda hate the way that this turned out, but I also kinda love it.

Katherine Pulitzer had always considered herself to be extremely observant. It was a skill that she had honed over time. Ever since she was a little kid, her father had taught her to be aware of other people. 

"Look," he told a 7 year old Katherine at the mall, "see that woman with the baby stroller? She's an artist, up-and-coming. Do you see how she has paint splattered on her pants? But that's an awfully nice bag, so she must have money to spend on herself. Maybe she's sold some of her art."

"See there," he told an 11 year old Katherine at the park, "that boy is no good. Look how he wears his pants sagged around his waist. He probably does drugs. But," he paused, "you see how he cradles his arm? He's hurt. Look at how he glares at his arm, he's probably angry that he got hurt. If I were one to place bets, I would bet that someone did that to him."

"That little girl," he pointed out to an 18 year old Katherine, right before she left for college, "her parents are divorced. Recently, too, judging by the way she's not comfortable holding that duffel bag. She has no idea what's coming next, but she doesn't cry. Her jaw is squared, and her eyes are set. She reminds me of another little girl I know. Unsure but determined, and ready to take on the world."

Everything meant something, and everything was connected to everything else; she knew this because of her father. 

Katherine had used her powers of observation to become the best staff writer her high school newspaper had, and then to earn the position of senior editor.  


So yes, Katherine was observant. At her new college, she observed three important things. 

The first was a boy by the name of Jack Kelly, who was passionate, driven, and had a heart of gold. At the first opportunity, she got an interview with him about the way that students working part time jobs had to split their time and priorities between survival and education.  
Unfortunately for her, if she tried to say that she wasn't disappointed at the news that he had a boyfriend, she would have been lying.  
Fortunately for her, Jack and his boyfriend Davey introduced her to many more people on campus. 

One of these people, Davey's sister Sarah, became the second major thing she noticed. Had Katherine not been a committed, non-biased journalist, she would have written articles, complete with sources, facts, and quotes, on Sarah's beauty.   
It wasn't just that she was beautiful, it was that she was kind and strong. She didn't take any shit, but she made people not want to give her any. 

The third and final thing Katherine noticed were two boys: Spot Conlon and Racetrack Higgins. When she looked at those two, she could practically hear her father's voice in her head,  
"See those boys, Kathy? They're in love. Absolutely, totally in love. The way the Irish one looks at the Italian one? The way the tall one buried his head in the short ones shoulder just now? That's what love looks like."

She asked one of the boys if Spot and Race were together, but all he did was shrug and shoo her away, which she took as a no. 

One night, halfway through the second quarter of school, at least a dozen people were at Jack's place for one of his "mega movie marathons."  
Couples were lined up on couches, all cuddling and kissing. Spot and Race, however, were sat with a foot of space between them. Katherine took this as confirmation that they were not in a relationship. 

Near midnight, Katherine felt very tired, and on the side of sleepy that plagued her with giggles and a total loss of filter. 

When Katherine heard Race chuckling about something Spot had said, she suddenly felt very fed up with the two of them, and turned around. 

"You know he likes you, right?" She looked Race dead in the eye, and pointed to Spot. 

Spot's head shot up, and his eyes widened.  
Race's movements looked a lot like Spot's, but with a lot more giggling.  
"God, I hope so, or this is going to be really awkward," he said, grabbed Spot's face, and kissed him. 

Katherine almost screamed. 

Jack and Crutchie, sitting on the couch, began cackling at what they had just seen, and Davey had tears forming in his eyes. 

"What?" she yelled at the three of them, causing them to laugh harder. 

"Race," started Davey, but before he could finish, he looked back at the kiss. Seeing that Spot was nearly on top of Race, and that Katherine looked disturbed and confused, Davey relapsed into tears and giggles. 

Minutes passed before anyone recovered from their laughter and Spot and Race broke apart, and Spot hoarsely choked out, "We're dating, Kath, you dumbass."

Her jaw slammed shut, and she reached for one of Jack's throw pillows so that she could cover her blushing face. While she was burying her nose in the pillow, she realized why the words 'observe' and 'obvious' sounded so similar. 

Everyone else in the room enjoyed her pain, and fits of laughter erupted again at random times for the rest of the night. 

 

The next morning, David was kind enough to make the group pancakes. Katherine had mostly recovered from her embarrassment, and was busy eating breakfast and marveling at how pretty Sarah looked in the morning, when Spot and Race got their revenge. 

Jack had told a joke, and everyone was laughing, except Katherine. She was watching Sarah laugh, giving Spot the opportunity to smile and make a crack.  
"You know she likes you, right?" he said, looking at Sarah and pointing to Katherine. 

Sarah furrowed her brows and looked quizzically at Spot, and then at Katherine.  
Once again, Kath had to hide her blush. 

Yeah, she was observant, but so were other people.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Every comment and kudo receives one of Jack's throw pillows in thanks! (Don't hold me to that, actually)


End file.
